Which to choose?

The Pashmeister

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Messages
109
Reaction score
3
Location
North West England
Like just about every other member on this forum I have more than one ukulele. My collection amounts to five (at the moment). Many of you have more.
I go to a local ukulele club every fortnight and take 1 ukulele with me.
I own 2 sopranos, 1 concert, 1 banjolele and a tenor.
I just wondered how other players decide which ukulele to take to this kind of thing.
Do you all have a favourite uke?
Do you rotate them - use a different uke each time?
Do you take your cheapest in case it gets damaged?
Do you take your most expensive/best ukulele to impress other players?
 
I go to a regular acoustic jam every month and I usually bring either my Kala Cedar/Koa tenor and/or my Gold Tone Banjolele.

The Kala comes because it has a particularly focused and penetrating tone and stands with the dozen or so guitars usually playing there.

And the banjolele is great for adding some texture to folk tunes or some electric-guitar style edge to rockier songs.
 
Like just about every other member on this forum I have more than one ukulele. My collection amounts to five (at the moment). Many of you have more.
I go to a local ukulele club every fortnight and take 1 ukulele with me.
I own 2 sopranos, 1 concert, 1 banjolele and a tenor.
I just wondered how other players decide which ukulele to take to this kind of thing.
Do you all have a favourite uke?
Do you rotate them - use a different uke each time?
Do you take your cheapest in case it gets damaged?
Do you take your most expensive/best ukulele to impress other players?

Yes........all of the above depending on my mood:p
 
I take the cheapest one I've got. That way if it gets damaged I don't have to worry too much, and if it is the result of someone else, they don't feel as bad either.
 
I don't go to meets, however, I wouldn't take an expensive one along, if I did, because it may get damaged or lost(?), but mainly because it will get 'lost' in amongst all the others, & all that 'singing'. :D
 
I have 8 very good quality ukes, a few that are custom made, but I'm not concerned about damage, I play uke weekly and rotate through them 1 to 8 so that they all get regular play time. I play my 19 basses twice a week and do the same thing, but 4 need some repair work so when they're done, they'll go back in the rotation.


8 tenor cutaway ukes, 3 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. http://www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: https://www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
 
Last edited:
I have this one solid mahogany concert with a MiSi pickup. It is my "do everything ukulele". It pretty much goes wherever I'm going because it is my best and most expensive ukulele and I always want to look and sound the best that I can. I balance that with the possibility of it getting damaged and I figure that I bought it to play it. I like to put my best foot forward.
 
Last edited:
I dont go to ukulele clubs.
The few times I have played alting with my father, who plays a western guitar, I have gone for my loudest uke - the only way to hear it through the guitar.

With a group I would think that I would go with whatever i think will compliment the group the best. If nobody else playes a banjolele, that would probably add the most to the group. How many ukuleles are in the group?
 
I go to a regular acoustic jam every month and I usually bring either my Kala Cedar/Koa tenor and/or my Gold Tone Banjolele.

The Kala comes because it has a particularly focused and penetrating tone and stands with the dozen or so guitars usually playing there.

And the banjolele is great for adding some texture to folk tunes or some electric-guitar style edge to rockier songs.

I just sold my Kala cedar, replacing it with a Pono cedar. I seldom bring my Gold Tone banjo uke to sessions because it is a bit overpowering, although no one has complained. I love the sound, though. I just got a Magic Fluke Firefly, which has a similar (quieter) sound, and it's smaller and lighter.
 
I don't think I ever bring the same uke two weeks in a row, and I go to two or three weekly sessions. As long as I'm going to a regular indoor session, I don't mind bringing a "good" uke, but if it's something outdoors or in a questionable, geographically rough area, I'll bring a Waterman or something inexpensive.

A favorite uke? My problem is that I have 38 favorite ukes. I've sold a dozen recently, but I can't pick out another one to sell. As for impressing other players, they might admire a nice uke, but I'd never want to "show off" my ukes. I admire the ukuleles that other people have and they might admire some of mine, but trying to one-up someone is counterproductive. I like having an assortment of sizes, brands, and models. I have hard cases for just about everything, since I'd hate to see one get damaged.

I notice you don't have a sopranino or a resonator. Get moving! ;)
 
What an interesting topic. I tend to rotate through several of my ukuleles. Because soprano is my favorite ukulele to play It's almost always a soprano. I tend to choose based on what I brought the time before, or if I haven't practiced any of the songs that my group will be playing, I'll bring one of my quieter uke's. Of course if I have something new, I almost always wanted to bring that. Additionally I won't really bring anything if I've change the strings on it in the last couple weeks. I really want to spend my time playing versus tuning.
 
It depends on the music we’re playing at the workshop/jam/performance, etc. My KoAloha concert is bright & loud. It has a semi-gloss finish that doesn’t work as well for outdoor venues where it might be hot or humid. My Gary Gill tenor is mellow and good for overall strumming. My Imua soprano sounds great for jazzy or bluesy stuff. Lately I’ve been taking both a concert & the soprano for variety. My Loprinzi concert with MiSi pick-up is the one I always play in my church band. It’s kind of quiet compared to the others, but sounds amazing plugged in.
 
I go to a uke group just about every Sat. Morning. I used to take one or two of my best tenors. About a year ago I started taking my Baritone primarily. Now I have two Baritones and I usully take the cedar topped one because I love the sound. I take Baritones because there are few in our group and it adds a bit of color to the overall sound. I need to play my tenors more this next month because I plan to go to a Lil’ Rev workshop in Atlanta and he will instruct in GCEA tuning. The challenges of being a Bari kinda guy.
 
Some really interesting replies here, and most of them different.
The club is more of a social thing rather than a band practice. We never know which songs we'll be playing so that can't influence my decision.
I took my banjolele last night and it does add a different dimension to the dynamics, but it's really not suitable for certain songs/types of song. I think the besxt option is to buy a double tenor ukulele case and take 2 totally different instruments - probably a soprano, a tenor and the banjolele - oops...does anybody make a triple ukulele case? :eek:
 
I bought my Kiwaya KSU-1L precisely for outdoor use, travel, workshops, etc. It's my cheapest and therefore doesn't cause me anxiety when I carry it in my backpack (well positioned) amongst other things. I try to protect it, but without obsessing.
 
I rarely take the Kamaka anywhere. The OXK is my bad/harsh weather ukulele. And when the weather is good it's the T1K, Eastman or S1 depending on what kind of stuff I'm expecting to play.
 
I have the following;
- Collings UT2 mahogany
- Kala baritone
- Deering Goodtime Banjo uke
.... just arrived today
- Yamaha GL1 guitalele
...... I had a Fender tenor uke ( I forget the model)
I have only been to one uke circle but I do jam with other musicians. I got the Fender and built a very nice Birch wood case for it with the idea that the Collings would stay in the music room and the Fender would travel. Here’s what actually occurs.

I play the Collings almost exclusively, it’s a little like why would you drive a beater with a Porsche in the garage. The Collings sings , it sounds wayyyy better and I play it wayyy better. I gave the Fender to my Granddaughter to learn and I take the Collings everywhere. Inside , outside , I take it camping and out on the boat or in my canoe. It’s travelled from Alberta to Arizona , I’ve played it along the Rideau canal in Ottawa and in Nova Scotia and PEI. Last January it went all across rural Ethiopia with me, Tigray , the Afar and down near Sudan. It’s scratched up but not damaged in any way but it does have a big wad of spruce gum on it from playing outside.

Why, because it brings me joy ! I absolutely love playing it and I literally don’t leave home without it. At the end of the day if I wear a big Jebus hole in it like Willie’s guitar that would just mean I played the heck out of it and I’m ok with that.
 
I have two Kanile’as: a linear-tuned tenor and a re-entrant super concert. They are both great beaters, and I pretty much always have one with me.

This decision hasn’t been without incident. The super concert has garnered a few small dings and required bracing repairs. The tenor is still too new for battle scars, but I’m sure it will acquire it’s fair share.

As far as which one I bring along, it depends on whatever I’m working on at the time. Each gets played almost every day anyways.
 
I take my Martin T1k to club nights and groups lessons. It is loud and sounds good. Not ostentatious after the logo fell off and the soft finish is wearing a lot. And occasionally someone takes an interest in it, peaks in the sound hole and murmurs, ohh a Martin.

For gigs and shows, there's the Kala archtop jazz, all black inc strings and strap. If Johnny Cash played a uke, it might have looked like this. It isn't very loud so no one hears my mistakes, but looks cool.

At home, I play the others inc a 60s Kamaka soprano, Clearwater steel string solid body electric and a Zachary Taylor semi-custom tenor.
 
I go to a weekly ukulele group - usually straight from work.

If the weather is extreme, I just grab my Outdoor Uke tenor out of the car. Otherwise, I bring my OXK, Kala ASOV soprano, Brueko maple soprano, or Mainland mahogany tenor - mostly because they have strap buttons and are easier to play standing up. If I am helping out, then I am walking around.

My other ones have ribbons around the lower bout and tie at the headstock. Fine for playing sitting down and keeping the neck secure, but harder to play when standing, although I have done it. Those usually just go to the practices/performances where I know I will be sitting down. My Martin S-O is a favorite to bring.

About the only ones I don't bring are my more fragile vintage ukes.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom